When I was a youngster, my mother and I eagerly awaited St. Joseph's Day in our small town of St. Martinville. For weeks before the big day, we would walk around the community and catch wafts of good things cooking: fig cookies, breads, stuffed artichokes and a glorious tomato sauce.

Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneSt. Joseph Day altars, such as this one in Gretna in 2011, are layered with significance.

I loved the traditions of the celebration. The altar was layered with food, and the food was layered with significance.

The altar itself was constructed on three levels, connoting the Catholic belief in the Trinity. There were breads baked in the forms of crosses, palm fronds, rosaries, and the crown of thorns, or in the shape of St. Joseph's beard or his staff, and these breads had great importance. Every visitor was given a piece of the bread to take home and keep all year to protect the family from starvation.

Sicilians called the fava bean the lucky bean, and dried fava beans were also distributed. It is said that if you carried a fava bean in your pocket or purse, you would never go broke.

And so it was that we joined the Randazzos, Inzerellas and the Fotis to taste all the food and to get our pieces of bread and fava beans to take home.

It wasn't until the 1970s, when I worked at Commander's Palace, that I came to love another March celebration: St. Patrick's Day. The Brennan clan, Commander's owners, began their festivities in the morning and continued well into the night. There was green beer, Irish stew and side dishes of cabbage and potatoes. Parades wound through the streets of Uptown, downtown and of course, in the Irish Channel. Like everybody else, I wore green and proclaimed myself Irish for the day.

I love that both of these events provide breaks from the somber penance of Lent, and I usually try to gather friends to celebrate with a couple of Sicilian and Irish dishes.

While checking my calendar to pick a date for this get-together, I noticed that today is also National Pear Helene Day. Pear Helene is a classic French dessert, perfect to offer on my international menu.

My husband, Rock, got into the mood, too, and foraged in the closets for anything green. He came up with green linen napkins and a couple of green serving platters. He suggested that we serve Champagne rather than green beer.

We decided on a platter of Irish smoked salmon, garnished with watercress sprigs and served with Irish soda bread.

That Rocky! He also found several small Italian flags left from a previous dinner party, and those became part of the centerpiece for the dining table.

And here we go!

Pasta with Shrimp Sauce

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1 cup chopped green bell peppers

1 cup chopped yellow onions

3 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves

Salt, red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup butter

1 pound medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 pound spaghetti

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot on medium heat. Add the garlic, bell peppers and onions. Cook, stirring, until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes.

Mix the sauce with the spaghetti and serve hot. Pass a bowl of Parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Artichokes

Makes 4 servings

4 medium-size fresh artichokes

3 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 shallots, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onions

1-1/2 cups seasoned fine dried breadcrumbs

1 cup peeled, deveined, coarsely chopped boiled shrimp

1/8 teaspoon hot sauce

1 egg, beaten

With a knife or scissors, cut off about the top third of the artichokes. Pull off the large, tough outer leaves around the bottom. Cut off the stem flush with the base. Open the center and clean out all the fuzzy leaves all the way down to the heart. You can scrape the heart in the center, very gently, with a spoon.

Put the artichokes in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them snugly.

Add 2 teaspoons of the salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and enough water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the centers are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the pan and turn upside down to drain. Set aside.

Combine the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the breadcrumbs. Add the chopped shrimp and season with the remaining teaspoon salt. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, the hot sauce and the egg. Mix well. Gently spoon small amounts into the leaves and into the center of the artichokes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the artichokes in a shallow pan with about 1 inch of hot water. Brush the artichokes with the remaining tablespoon olive oil, cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Irish soda bread

Makes 1 loaf

1 tablespoon butter, softened

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 to 1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. With a pastry brush, coat a baking sheet evenly with the butter. Sift the flour, soda and salt together in a deep mixing bowl. Gradually add 1 cup of the buttermilk, beating constantly with a large spoon until the dough is firm enough to be gathered into a ball. (If the dough crumbles, beat up to 1/2 cup more buttermilk into it by the tablespoon until the particles adhere.)

Place the dough on a lightly floured board, pat and shape it into a flat circular loaf about 8 inches in diameter and 1-1/2 inches thick.

Set the loaf on the baking sheet. With the tip of a small knife, cut a 1/2-inch deep X into the dough, dividing the top of the loaf into quarters. Bake the bread in the middle of the oven until the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Pears Belle Helene

Makes 6 servings

For the pears:

6 firm Bartlett or Bosc pears

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate sauce:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup black coffee

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 quart French vanilla ice cream

Ground cinnamon for serving

Peel, halve and core the pears and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Arrange the pears (cut side down) in 1 layer in a shallow pan. Combine 1-1/4 to 2 cups (or a little more if necessary) warm water with the 1/2 cup of the superfine sugar and the vanilla extract. Pour the mixture over the pears and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Spoon the liquid over the pears if necessary for even cooking. Cover the pan and poach until the pears are tender when pierced gently with a thin knife, about 10 minutes depending on the size of the pears. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

To make the chocolate sauce, break the chocolate into small pieces in a heavy saucepan and add the coffee and sugar. Melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Pour in the cream and continue stirring until the mixture is hot. Pour into a sauceboat for serving.

To serve, arrange the pears, cut-side down on a dessert plate with a scoop or two of ice cream. Drizzle all with the chocolate syrup. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.